Category Archives:Las Vegas

When it comes to seafood, Paul Bartolotta is a legend. They fly in fish daily from the Italian Mediterranean sea, so you’ll see all sorts of fish varieties that you simply can’t get in the United States.

Simple preparation. Perfect execution. Big money.

The whole fish costs $15 for 100 grams. You easily could spend $150 on a fish. So we decided to go for the Top Chef tasting menu ($180): giving us a taste of Langoustines (also flown in live from Italy, so they were in the sea less than 24 hours ago), and the whole fish.

The simple sciabola fritto (fried blade fish) was a perfect way to start.

The Ligurian Octopus salad was the most delicious octopus I’ve ever had.

And the grilled shrimp, spiny lobster, and langoustines did not disappoint. So simple, but so delicious.

Then came the whole fish, filleted table-side. We had the orata fish, a gilthead sea bream. It was a flavor unlike any I’ve ever had. The flakiness of a light whitefish, but the taste of a meatier fish, like a mahi mahi. Just a really cool experience, eating a piece of fish that I’d literally have to go to Italy to enjoy.

Great desserts too, a fun plate of ice cream, sorbet and gelato.

Eating at Bartolotta is an experience that is well worth the money. A once-in-a-lifetime joy of savoring unique flavors, with such simple preparation.

é by José Andrés. Truly one of the most enjoyable meals I’ve ever experienced.

There are just 8 seats inside this restaurant inside the Jaleo restaurant in the Cosmopolitan Hotel. We dined with two other couples, and one solo diner (who turned out to be the Chef in charge of Jose Andres’ restaurants in Washington, D.C.)

This is a show, inside a room that’s supposed to represent the inside of the mind of José Andrés.

We loved the edible sangria, which was presented in a box and tasted a little bit like Dippin’ Dots (the ice cream of the future!) This was Spain’s street food prepared in an incredibly modern way. Lots of foams and interesting flavors working. Seriously, 18 out of 19 courses were epic. I didn’t like the lobster with citrus & jasmine because it tasted of too much jasmine- almost soapy.

The beet sandwich was amazing, the foie gras and lamb… the lamb may have been the best tasting lamb I’ve ever enjoyed. You can see each course by looking at the gallery below,

If you google e, you’ll see many articles saying that you have to reserve months in advance, but we emailed [email protected] the week before our arrival, and we got in. It cost $195 for the tasting menu, and was totally worth it. The wine pairing was also excellent, and my wife and I split it so we wouldn’t be rolling out of there drunk.

Our expectations were high for é by José Andrés, and they were exceeded. Awesome experience, with some incredible dishes.

é by José Andrés is in Jaleo, this is supposed to represent Jose’s mind.

Julian Serrano was our first stop in Vegas. Small plates, perfect for lunch, perfect to not fill us up prior to going crazy at a couple other spots.

If you love tapas, the menu has some of your familiar favorites, and then some things that really push the envelope. We loved the sauteed padron peppers – very simple mini green peppers with olive oil and sea salt. We found the tuna-raspberry skewer to be absolutely beautiful:

That’s ahi tuna at the bottom, coated in sesame seed with dots of wasabi in between. On top is a “molecular” raspberry – a compressed raspberry that’s so creamy it’s almost like a jello. I’m not 100% sure that these flavors work together (the umami of the ahi and the slightly sweet raspberry), but I loved the texture play and the idea.

The lobster gazpacho was amazing. Tons of lobster with like a bubble tea bubble of gazpacho in the middle. It was absolutely delicious.

We finished with an Arroz Marinero: some monkfish, mussels, clams, shrimp and vegetables in sofrito rice. For $14, it fed us both, and was perfect. Nice stickiness to the rice, great flavor, just delightful.

There was a great selection of sherries as well, I highly recommend drinking sherry with your tapas – the flavors perfectly compliment each other, and Americans (myself included) don’t drink enough Sherry.

I found the prices very reasonable and the experience a ton of fun at Julian Serrano!

I’m not much of a gambler. So my wife and I are headed to Las Vegas to shop, to sun, and to stuff our faces. The food scene in Vegas has come a long way since the days of the $2.99 buffet. Just about every major chef in the world has an outpost in Vegas.

So we need your help. My wife has curated an insanely large list of possible restaurants. We have four lunches and three dinners to enjoy. Share your thoughts in the comments, and I’ll review the whole thing when I get back.